Hope for the Future
by DaydreamerNightwriter
Summary: Dudley's daughter receives some interesting mail, and Dudley becomes reflective, whilst Ginny and Harry deal with other family events
1. Unexpected R'owl Mail

**Author's Note:** I don't own Harry Potter or Dudley Dursley, although Natalie and Lara are my creations. I'm not entirely sure where this came from but I thought Dudley coming to terms with his cousins 'peculiarities' through his daughter's developments in a similar direction.

* * *

He had never thought about it, not really, not since that one dark night when they'd left all they knew behind, fugitives from a power he had never understood. All discussion of it had been forbidden, at first for their safety, and then eventually it had become a taboo, bigger than it had been before, _the _taboo that had shaped his, and his family's life. He wondered why his family had never wondered what had happened after they had left, but it was taboo and he'd never asked. It was easier to not mention it, not bring up the subject that would make his mother cry, bringing up her guilt, and cause his father to turn purple with yet another apoplectic fit.

His wife shuffled on her feet, bringing his thoughts back to the letter she had handed him with his cup of coffee. He stared at it with a mix of revulsion and horror – the emotions he knew had been ingrained in him when he was a lot younger – and, unexpectedly, pride. It took him back to the first dark night of fleeing, and the weeks of his fathers 'midlife crisis' before it. The familiarity of the colour of the parchment, the shield of the coat of arms at the top, replicated in the red wax seal that pressed against his fingers on the back of the parchment.

"Wh… when did it arrive?" he asked his wife, who stood at his side nervously. She had handed it to him with a bewildered look which had become a little afraid when she saw his reaction.

"It arrived this morning." She informed him, gently, a hand on his arm drawing him towards the lounge.

"By…" he started the sentence, but stopped on the word, realising what had been out of place outside when he had arrived home from work. Brushing of her hand he strode to the window as she finished his sentence.

"Owl." There was awe in her voice, and confusion. "The letter was addressed to Natalie, but, I thought it was odd, a wax seal, delivered by owl. That's all very odd, so I opened it."

"That's fine." Dudley Dursley stood at the window in his lounge staring at the owl that was now perched on his car. It seemed to have realised that he would want it. "I'm going to write a letter. Could you call Natalie down, and we'll tell her the, good, news." he said it almost distractedly, as he walked back to the front door. He was barely aware of the noise of his wife's footsteps making their way up the stairs. He paused before he opened it, aware that he was stepping into the world his parents had been so afraid of, and then he thought that this could be the way to finally settle his curiosity, and pulled the door open. He looked at the owl, it was different to the one that had lived in his house with his cousin for 6 years, but that didn't matter, he was sure it would find him. "Well, are you coming in? I…I need you to deliver a letter for me."

He sat at the desk, the owl perched behind him.

_Harry,_

_You may find this correspondence unexpected, to say the least. What I have to tell you, I am sure you will find surprising. There is much to tell you, but suffice it to say, I have a young daughter. She has always been different, but today we received a letter from Hogwarts. She is, it would appear, gifted, and I am not entirely sure what to do. _

_I am trusting to this owl to find you, and I am certain that it in turn will be able to bring a reply. I know that there has been much bad blood between you and my family, and between you and I, but I hope that this could be a new start for us._

_Sincerely,_

_Your cousin_

_Dudley Dursley._

He finished the letter and sealed it carefully in an envelope before writing his cousin's name on the outside neatly. He patted the owl on the head.

"I'm trusting you." He murmured. "You are my only link to that world."

There was a tap at the door.

"Father?" he heard his daughter's voice at the door.

"I'll meet you and your mother in the lounge. I have a lot to tell you both." He called back to her, standing and leaning across the desk to open the window. "Off you go then." He smiled slightly and shut it after the brown and black owl had flown out.

"When I was your age, Natalie, I had a cousin. His name was Harry Potter, and he lived in the cupboard under my stairs. This was, admittedly, odd, but I was quite selfish then, and I accepted it as normal. His parents, my mother told us both when we were old enough to understand, had been killed in a terrible car crash, he had been with them and that was the source of the odd lightning shaped scar on his forehead. We both accepted this, it was a reasonable explanation. But as his eleventh birthday approached we began to receive letters, peculiar letters, which arrived in a peculiar fashion. My father was so concerned by these letters that he tried to stop them from being delivered, he boarded up the house and this continued until one evening thousands of them burst through the blocked up chimney. It was quite scary, but, now that I think about it, quite exciting, and very cool." Natalie pulled a face at her father saying cool, but let it pass. "All the letters were addressed to my cousin, and when he managed to get one off my father, who had been burning them, he discovered something spectacular. He was a wizard." At this point he handed the letter to his daughter. "After that I was encouraged to treat him more like a leper than I had before. He was a freak to be ignored. And I have to admit I was quite scared. None of my experiences with his magic were very fun – I grew a pigs tail, fell into a snake tank, he made the glass disappear you see, and was nearly killed by Dementzoids… no, no they were Dementors. My father was very afraid of magic, and insisted on saying things wrong, to try to make it not exist. I haven't seen Harry since just before his seventeenth birthday. But I wrote to him today, in the hope that we can build bridges. Look at the letter Natalie. It's the same one Harry got all those years ago."

"But, it's addressed to me."

"Apparently, mine and Harry's mothers' blood was not so different after all." He smiled ruefully. There was a tapping at the window, and the Dursley's looked up to see the owl perched on the window sill. Natalie let out a small shriek, but quieted when Dudley stood to let it in, watching curiously as the owl lowered his beak to hand her father the letter, and then hold his claw out to take payment. The reply was succinct and to the point. Harry would be arriving when he finished work at 7. Lara Dursley hurried to the kitchen having read the note to begin cooking supper, she was sure, and hopeful, that Harry would stay for some food. She left Dudley to try to explain to Natalie what the letter would mean. It did explain some odd things that had happened when she was younger. The change in Dudley's character since receiving the letter was dramatic, even in so short a period of time. He seemed lighter, as though something had been lifted from his shoulders. She wasn't that surprised by the revelation of her husband's childhood, there had always been something odd and guarded about his parents.

Just after seven there was a loud crack outside in the back garden, followed by a gentle tapping at the back door. As she opened the door into the kitchen the man outside was just turning back to face the door, a streak of light bounding away into the distance above the rooftops.

"Sorry, just letting my wife know that I'll be late home. It's been a little hectic at the Ministry. I'm Harry Potter." He was average in height, with dark hair that was starting to go a little gray at the temples, his eyes were dark green and, knowing that it was there, her eyes searched his forehead for the scar that Dudley had spoken about.

"Lara, I'm Dudley's wife." Harry nodded and smiled at her. "Would you like to come in, a cup of coffee or tea?"

"Tea, please, if it's not too much trouble."

"No, no, the kettle is already on the stove." She motioned towards her aga, the kettle on top emitting a little wisp of steam. "Would you like to… sorry, this is quite strange. I didn't know you existed until two hours ago. I cooked a little supper, if you'll join us?"

"I don't know, I think I'll wait and see how this goes." She smiled slightly and led him through to the lounge. "Dudley. Harry's here." Dudley stood and walked forward to shake Harry's hand.

"Harry." He said cautiously.

"Dudley. It's been quite a while." Lara took in the scene and beckoned to Natalie to join her in the kitchen, leaving the cousins to warily address one another.


	2. Awkward rebeginnings

**Author's Note: Firstly the disclaimer, I own none of the original characters and I do not intend to make any money from them. Secondly thank you for the lovely reviews, I did mean to reply to them all but I never know what to say so thank you and I hope you like the second chapter.**

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Harry and Dudley stood there, nervously looking at one another, neither sure what the other would say.

"Would you like to sit down?" Dudley asked, breaking the silence as he stood awkwardly in front of the sofa, one hand out to proffer the other sofa as seating for Harry. Harry nodded and sat down on the cream leather sofa, settling back onto a red knitted cushion. "So…" Dudley began.

"I must admit I was surprised to hear from you." Harry said, "After we parted ways I never thought I would see you again."

"No, I didn't either. About that night Harry, I wanted to apologise. I was a very spoiled selfish child and I never thanked you – for saving my life. I always wanted to write but, well to be truthful I didn't know what to say, and I didn't know where you were. Or even if you were alive. And then this…"

"Your daughter?"

"Natalie, yes. I always suspected but I was never sure. There was always something about her that made me think about the first 10 years of our lives together. But with my upbringing, admitting to myself that I suspected that my daughter might be a witch? It was difficult." Dudley sighed. "And then the owl came. I was shocked to say the least. But it was an opportunity." He stopped as Lara reentered, a tray with a teapot and cup on it balanced carefully on one hand in front of her as she opened the door and held it open for her daughter who followed close behind her, carrying a plate of cakes. Dudley smiled at the sight of his daughter. "Natalie, say hello to your cousin Harry."

"Hello sir." She said, timidly quietly and politely.

"Hello Natalie. I hear you got a letter today?"

"Yes, it came by owl. My dad wrote to you by owl as well!"

"That's true. It flew all the way to London to find me. that's a long way." Dudley smiled at Harry's comment which inspired a gasp of awe from Natalie, London was far enough away that to Natalie an owl flying that distance would seem mystical. In reality it was about thirty miles. "And the letter that you got told you that you can go to a special school. What do you think about that?"

"None of my friends will be there." Natalie said sadly.

"True, but my two sons are there, and my daughter will be starting at the same time as you. She should have received an owl similar to yours today. And eventually you'll learn to do this." He reached into the pocket of the suit jacket he had carefully put on to blend in and not shock Dudley too much, and drew out his wand. With a slight flick the teapot rose and poured tea into all four cups, which then floated to each person in the lounge. Whilst Natalie stared in stunned curiosity, Lara glanced nervously between her husband, the tea cup and Harry, as Dudley's face turned a delightful shade of pink. Harry's eyes took in the scene, and recognised that despite all he had said about making amends, Dudley was still not entirely comfortable around magic. His contemplation of Dudley's discomfort was interrupted by Natalie's enthusiasm.

"Wow!" She exclaimed. "That's so cool! I'll learn how to do that?"

"Eventually, in seven or so years. You have to learn the basics first." Harry said, a sudden note of caution in his voice, as if he had suddenly thought that showing her the trick was foolish – she might try things that were too difficult for her too soon. "But whilst you're at school you're not allowed to do magic at home. When your father and I were younger, I was about to start my fifth year at school, and I nearly got expelled for using magic to save his life."

"That was the Dementors." Dudley interjected.

"Yes that was the Dementors." Harry fell silent, he always seemed to do that when Dementors were mentioned, a fact his wife had pointed out more than once, he had never been able to forget the memories that they had created of his parents, or what they had done to Sirius.

"My parents never, never treated you very well." Dudley interrupted the silence.

"No, they didn't.." Harry replied after a pause while he pulled himself back to the present.

"I'm sorry." Dudley said awkwardly. "Dad was… easily scared by things that he didn't understand. And Mum… well Mum had many problems. She felt left behind by her sister, and then when Aunt Lily died she was angry and upset that she'd wasted all that time, but she took those feelings out on you. And that was wrong. And unfair." Dudley trailed of slowly, his voice fading into nothing.

"I think maybe she'd like to see you Harry." Lara said timidly. "Since Vernon's heart attack, she's spoken of you more and more." Harry visibly stiffened.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet." There was a pop in the back garden, followed swiftly by a knock on the back door. It was similar to the way in which Harry had arrived and Lara glanced back at him before leaving the lounge to answer the back door. She was surprised to see a young man of maybe 18 years standing there, dressed similarly to Harry, save for the cape he wore instead of the jacket.

"I'm terribly sorry to trouble you, but is this the Dursley house? I'm looking for my Uncle Harry." He smiled slightly, in a gangly awkward teenage way, Lara thought as she overcame her initial shock at the appearance of a second wizard at her back door.

"Of course, he's in the front room. Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you Mrs Dursley, I'm expected back at the house." He replied as he followed her into the lounge. She walked in to the room, as it occurred to her that she didn't know her latest guests name.

"Um, Harry, you have a visitor." Harry stood up, not sure who to expect and smiled when he saw the man emerging from the hallway.

"Teddy?" Harry asked dumbfounded at his Godson's sudden appearance.

"Aunt Ginny says she's very sorry to interrupt the family reunion, but are you going to be home in time to congratulate Lily on getting into Hogwarts? And James got his O.W.L results today as well, and well, she says come home now."

"And knowing my wife she wasn't quite so polite about it."

"No, she wasn't." Harry chuckled.

"Lara, Dudley, this is my godson Teddy, the son of two very good friends. Thank you for your hospitality, but I should be getting home. There is a place in London that you should visit to get all of Natalie's books. I'll send you an owl when I am taking James, Albus and Lily."

"That's very kind." Lara said quietly as she followed Harry to the door. Harry nodded and smiled, and with a meaningful glance at Dudley commented,

"I've learnt from my wife's family that that's what families do. I'll see you soon." He pulled the backdoor shut behind him and the Dursley's could hear the pair talking together.

"So how did James do?"

"He wants to tell you himself, so I can't tell you. I did alright though."

"Well I know that, I did help mark the papers." Then there were two cracks and a small flash of light and the pair were gone. Dudley looked at his wife.

"Well…"

"Well, you met your cousin. That's good. I'm going to put some pasta on for tea." Dudley nodded and watched his wife work in the kitchen, wondering what the next days would bring.

**AN/ Sorry all, was just reading through this to get some ideas for next chapter and found mistakes that I needed to correct!**


	3. Birthday Chez PotterWeasley

**Authors Note: I own none of the people in this. I hope you like this one too, again thank you for all the reviews, they were very encouraging and helped me write this part faster. Hopefully the next chapter will come as easily as this one did.**

Ginny Potter stared up at the clock above the fireplace, the one that had been a wedding present from her mother, and sighed. The sigh was loud enough that her squabbling offspring stopped in their arguments but only loud enough to make that pause a moment before they returned to their highpitched yelling with three identical shrugs. The clock told her that neither her husband nor his Godson were on their way home as their two hands were still pointing to 'Elsewhere'. She sighed again as she returned to her cooking and her niece looked up at her.

"They'll be back soon Aunt Ginny. Teddy said he wouldn't stop at the Dursley's so they won't be much longer. And Teddy has gotten there because he's pointing to Elsewhere and not travelling." The silver haired girl spoke quietly, her eyes and most of her attention on the bread she was kneading.

"I know Victoire, but tonight was the one night I needed him home on time. What with the O.W.L's, Teddy's results, Lily's letter and the whole family descending on me for tea, I needed him home." Victoire looked at her red-haired flustered Aunt and turned to the roiling pile on the floor that was all that could be seen of three of her cousins.

"James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna!" she snapped, not angrily. "Stop that now, get upstairs or no tea for you." The whinging started straight away.

"But Victoire, he said I'll never be as good as him…"

"But Victoire, she stamped on my foot…"

"But Victoire, he said that they'll flush teddy at school…"

"Quiet! Upstairs all of you, wash up, put on your nice robes and come back down and be civilised. Your mother and I are cooking your father's birthday meal, and we can't do that with all this hullabaloo, now, scat!" she clapped her hands and laughed as the three heads nodded as one and dashed up the curved staircase.

"You have a way with them." Ginny observed quietly as she added some salt to the boiling potatoes.

"I think it helps that Lily's in awe of me and that the boys are a little in love with me." Victoire smiled, silently noticing the hands on the clock moving to travelling.

"You get _that_ from your mother." Ginny laughed. "I remember when your mother first came to Hogwarts. All the boys seemed to adore her. It was as if the rest of us didn't exist. Your uncle Ron was particularly under her spell, it drove Hermione crazy, so she counteracted with Victor Krum. That brought Ron to his senses. It still took him another three years to do anything about it though." Ginny paused as she added the carrots to the boiling water. "The Weasley men are very easy prey to Veela wiles… just be wary of James." Victoire laughed and, noticing the door handle moving slightly.

"I found that Lupin men are just as easy to bring under my spell." Ginny raised an eyebrow and Victoire smiled slightly as the door opened and Teddy walked in.

"Really? I only love you because you cast a spell on me? Well dang, that hurts."

"Teddy, no one says dang any more." Ginny informed him.

"Sorry aunt Ginny, and I'm sorry it took me so long, I got a little lost and then uncle Harry wanted to discuss results."

"That's ok Teddy. Now be a dear and lay the tables for me. Children on one, adults on the other. There'll be nine children and eleven adults." Victoire frowned and did the maths.

"Dominique won't like that." Teddy's shout of laughter came from the cavernous dining room.

"She's still at school, she's not an adult yet." Ginny explained with a smile as her husband wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "Happy birthday. How was your day?" Harry breathed in the scent of his wife's hair before replying.

"Interesting. Dudley was… different. I said we'd take them shopping with us when we go to get everyone's new books. The daughter seemed nice enough, his wife was a bit cautious."

"Hmmm, well she probably hasn't got her head around all of this yet." She turned in his arms and kissed him again. "I'm glad I get a moment to myself before the terrors re-emerge."

"Hugo's here!" A yell came from the top of the staircase as there was a knock at the door. Hermione popped her head round slowly.

"Hello all, can we come in yet?" and then there was the sound of a stampede upstairs as James, Albus and Lily raced down to see their cousins.

"What did I say about running in the house?" Harry and Teddy yelled at the same time from different rooms. Hermione was pushed inside as her two children dashed in to find Harry's. The fast garbled chatter of excited children caused Victoire to begin herding them into the playroom away from the adults.

"Hey! What do you say?" Ron said indignantly as he followed Hermione into the house.

"Hello Aunty Ginny, hello Uncle Harry, hello Teddy, hello Victoire. Happy birthday Uncle Harry." Rose and Hugo gabbled quickly.

"Good, go on, shoo." Hermione sighed as she sank into a chair nibbling on a carrot stick. James, Albus and Lily took their cue from their cousins and added their Happy Birthday Dad's before going where Victoire pointed. "Happy Birthday Harry, how were the Dursley's?" Hermione asked curiously.

"They were fine, Dudley still goes pink if you use magic around him. Vernon died a few years ago and Lara wants me to go visit Aunt Petunia."

"You didn't tell me that." Ginny said, pouring herself and Hermione a glass of wine.

"I didn't have a chance." Harry said with a glance at Hermione.

"Yeah, sorry mate. We were outside for a while, but then Lily spotted us so we thought we should come in." Ron said. "Mum and Dad are outside somewhere, they shouldn't be too long. Who else is coming?"

"Bill, George and Angelina and all their various offspring." Harry said rolling his eyes. "Anyone heard how Bill's doing at the moment?"

"Victoire's worrying about him. It's 20 years since they met so I don't think he's doing too well, not that he'll admit it." Teddy said as he came back in. "Tables are laid, and the drinks are ready. I'm going to go get some firewood." Ginny nodded at him with a smile.

"He's so grown up." Hermione said approvingly.

"He should be, he just got accepted as an Auror." Ron commented.

"Ha. That's because his Godfather and best friend are on the hiring committee." Hermione retorted.

"We'd never hire anyone on the basis of their relationship with us." Ron replied, a shocked look on his face.

"Of course not." Ginny replied, absentmindedly. "But I don't think that's why he's suddenly so grown up." She added mysteriously.

"What? What do you know?" Hermione said leaning in for a gossip.

"It's a hunch, and I can't say." Ginny answered. The kitchen door opened again and a large group entered.

"Look who we found outside." Arthur Weasley said, his arm around his eldest sons shoulders. The kitchen became very crowded as the rest of the guests all appeared at the same time. Hermione stood up to make space for Molly.

"Thank you dear. You do look well. And you Harry dear. Ginny must be feeding you enough. Now, grandchildren, much as we all love you, I suspect your cousins are all in the playroom so why don't you go find them? But first…"

"Happy Birthday uncle Harry!" Four voices piped before three pairs of feet dashed off. Dominique stood awkwardly in the corner, the firelight glinting off her silver hair as she watched her father like a hawk. Fred paused in the doorway, looking from Dominique to Bill and back again.

"Aren't you coming Dominique?" he asked. She looked at him and shook her head. Hermione walked over and put her arm around Dominique's shoulders, as Ginny joined them.

"Go on, Victoire's in there, we'll look after Bill." They gently led Dominique to the door and Fred took her hand tenderly and led her towards the playroom. "Oh dear." Hermione looked at Ginny, who was watching her eldest brother.

"I'm going to go hide the whisky. He won't touch much else." Hermione nodded, and looked at where Ron and Harry were chatting with Bill and George, the three of them making an effort to alleviate Bill's pain at the loss of his wife. She noticed Molly watching them all a look of worry on her face as she took in the new lines on Bill's already scarred face.

"Mrs Weasley, can you help me take the food into the dining room, I think it's almost done."

"Thank you Hermione." Arthur mouthed at her before going to greet Teddy who was re-emerging with firewood, covered in snow. "Says something about the condition of the world, all this snow in July." He said to Teddy as he pushed the door shut.

"Yes sir, that it does."

"Teddy, call me Arthur, Grandad, Mr Weasley, anything but sir."

"Yes sir, Arthur, Mr Weasley, sir." Teddy stuttered as he followed Molly and Hermione into the dining room. Victoire reappeared in the doorway. She spotted her father and went to hug him.

"Hi Dad, how are you? Louis seems really excited about Hogwarts. How is Gringotts doing?"

"I'm fine, Gringotts is fine, and Louis is overly excited." Bill kissed his eldest daughter on the cheek. "You look well. And more like your mother everyday." He looked at Harry. "Is there any whisky in your cupboards." Victoire stepped back, from him her smile freezing slightly at the thought that the sight of her made him want to drink, it didn't get any easier to understand, no matter how many times she faced it. The rest of her family went into the dining room to eat whilst she stood there, leaning on the worktop for a moment. After what felt to her like seconds but was in fact minutes Teddy came to find her.

"He's sitting between Ron and Uncle Arthur, he'll be fine, come and eat something?" she nodded her acquiescence and let him lead her to the table to sit next to him. From the other table Dominique was watching Bill carefully whilst masking it by eating.

As the meal came to an end and coffee and mints were served Ginny decided it was time for the toasts. She stood up at the table facing Harry at the other end.

"Thank you all for coming, once again to Harry's birthday, if you'd join me in singing…" they all laughed as she began to sing Happy Birthday in a wavering voice and then joined in on the second line, as had long since become tradition. As the song came to a close Harry stood, as again had become tradition, to bring forward the other celebrations of the night. "This year we're also celebrating two lots of exam results as James got mainly Excellents in his O. and one Outstanding, and as Teddy, our dear old Teddy, passes his exams to become an Auror." Ginny interrupted at this point to add:

" I'm assured that there is no nepotism there."

"Of course not." Ron responded with a sly wink at Teddy.

"As well as that we have four children going to Hogwarts in September, this year Lily, Hugo, Louis and Roxanne all get to join their brothers, sisters and cousins in Hogwarts hallowed halls. Remember to be nice to Professor Longbottom and he'll pass all of you!" it was a longstanding joke and as the laughs died down Hermione and Ginny both stood up.

"You forgot one person Harry." They said at the same time before looking at one another and laughing.

"Oh? Who?"

"Natalie." Teddy replied for him. "She is a member of the family even if no one's met her. And she is going to Hogwarts. It's a hard enough transition for her without our lot shunning her." Molly looked around confused.

"Well, who's Natalie?"

"She's my second cousin." Harry replied, "Dudley Dursley's daughter. She received an owl today and will be joining the others at Hogwarts too." Molly nodded.

"We'll have to have them all round to dinner Arthur, that's the best way." Hermione Ginny and Angelina shared a knowing look at that and smiled at Molly.

"Of course Molly."

"Yes, Mum if that's what you think we should do."

"And finally…" Harry said, raising the champagne glass he had just served to himself, "to absent friends and loved ones."

"To absent friends." They all chimed in, tears running down various guests faces. In the silence that followed Harry's sitting back down, Teddy stood up and coughed.

"Actually, that's not the last today. I wanted to thank all of you for taking me into your homes and letting me be a part of this huge loving family. I'm sorry that Percy and Charlie couldn't be here tonight, I did ask but they couldn't make it. So they'll have to hear this from Molly. I've asked Victoire to marry me, and she did me the great honour of accepting. I hope you will all be willing to help with the wedding, because we're going to need some help."

In amongst the tears and screams and well wishing that that announcement created, Lily, Hugo Roxanne and Louis were barely noticed as they slipped out of the room to sit on the stairs together.

"What do you think this Natalie's going to be like?"

"I've never heard anything good about her family. Dad always says the Dursleys were terrible to Uncle Harry growing up."

"Dad doesn't talk about them, but I heard mum and Teddy talking tonight, Dad went to visit them."

"I hope she's nice. And that she ends up in Gryffindor like the rest of us."


	4. The Dursleys and Owls

**Author's Note: I don't own it, and I'm not making money off it! Enjoy!**

Natalie lay awake late into the night. Her head was spinning with all the new information as she stared at her ceiling. It was covered in stick on and painted on glow in the dark stars creating a galaxy above her head. It had always been comforting to her, her mother told her frequently that since she had been a child she had always slept better outdoors under the sky, so when she had stopped sleeping when her parents were fighting all the time three years before she had gone to the shop and bought what she needed and then stood on her bed to climb on top of the wardrobe to paint the constellation. Her father had been furious, looking somewhat like his own father as he screamed at her for being so foolish, whilst her mother had laughed and tidied up. That night they'd argued more than before, and she knew that it had been her fault, but she stared up at her stars and she fell asleep.

Now though the magic of the ceiling appeared to have worn off. Her eyes remained open and her brain remained active. An owl had delivered a letter to her. To tell her that she was going to leave her friends behind and learn magic. As a child she had never been even allowed to read books that featured magic. At Christmas _The Wizard of Oz_ had been a definite forbidden fruit, _The Worst Witch_ books and CITV series had been banned. In fact for a whole year she had been banned from watching CITV altogether, because of its reruns of _The Worst Witch _and _Sabrina the Teenage Witch_. It was so bad that just the words _Witch_, _Wizard,_ or _Magic _were enough to send Grandpa Vernon into apoplectic spasms. She hated to admit it, but she had a feeling her mentioning of _Sabrina_ on the telephone to a friend in his hearing had been what had finished him off. That and the tub of ice cream a day habit he had developed to "alleviate the stress and relax his nerves" as Grandma Petunia always, without fail, explained it away as. She looked at the door as it swung open to reveal her mother standing there.

"Can't sleep?" she shook her head. "Me neither. Your father's snoring." Natalie laughed at that. "It'll be alright. I promise it'll be alright. We'll go see Grandma tomorrow." Natalie cringed, she hated seeing her grandma Petunia nearly as much as she hated the Dentist.

"But she'll hate it. She's like Grandpa, scared of all the wizardy stuff. At least now I understand their foolish fears. It was Uncle Harry and his mother that caused it?" Lara nodded and sat down on the bed.

"Grandpa Vernon hated things you couldn't easily explain, much like your father. He married your Grandma, and with her came the most unexplainable of unexplainable things. A sister who was a witch, who at the same time as Petunia married Vernon, married a scruffy looking wizard. Vernon hated scruffy-looking things almost as much as he hated the unexplainable. And then a year after Dudley was born, they woke up to find a baby on their doorstep. The baby of two sorcerers, who inevitably would also be a sorcerer. The way that his parents died was unexplainable and odd, so Vernon concocted a story about a carcrash, and all their neighbours thought that they were the nicest family in the world, taking in the poor orphaned Harry. Unfortunately, Vernon's fear of the unexplained rubbed off on Petunia, who was herself fighting a terrible jealousy of her sisters abilities, and between them they tried to eliminate all the unexplainable magic from Harry." Lara paused and stroked Natalie's hair back away from her forehead. "The events in Dudley's teenage years didn't help. Your father told you some of the stories earlier. They made the fear worse. And then to top it all off, this unexplainable thing made them leave all they ever knew and loved, and they never saw Harry again. The fear became anger for Vernon, and guilt for Petunia, and that's why they are how they are. Vernon's gone, and Petunia is emotionally crippled by it all. I'm hoping that this might help her make some peace with it, and with her sister's memory. That's why we're going tomorrow."

"Ok mum. If we have to."

"We do. Now, go to sleep." Lara remained seated on Natalie's bed stroking her hair until her daughter finally fell asleep. Then she carefully rose and returned to her bedroom where Dudley was now sitting up in bed.

"I woke up and you weren't here." he said petulantly.

"I was in Natalie's room. She's struggling with all of this." He nodded, a bit too curtly for her liking.

"I thought you'd left me again." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. She sighed.

"I was down the hall looking after _our_ daughter. I thought we had discussed that already." She said, keeping the anger out of her voice, making an effort to keep it quiet and neutral. She thought that discussions of the time she had left in the middle of the night to take care of her sick dying mother without informing him first were over and done with. Apparently not. She sighed as she climbed into the bed next to him. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up, but you were snoring again and I couldn't sleep, and then Natalie was still awake so I had to get her to sleep." she sighed again. "Can we forget about it and go to sleep now?"

"No. I've been thinking. I don't think Natalie should go to that school. Dad wouldn't have liked it." Lara winced, she'd been expecting that ever since Harry had poured the tea that evening.

"Now, Dudley, don't be foolish." She scolded.

"Foolish?! That's what you call it when I tell you that I can't send our daughter to that school for freaks."

"No, that's what I call it when you let your father's prejudices get in the way of your daughter's education. She needs this Dudley. She needs something more than staring at the ceiling listening to us yelling. She needs this because she is a witch, and you told me what happened when Harry's Wizarding traits began to manifest themselves without training in how to control them. You should be proud of her. I want you to be proud of her." Dudley didn't say anything in response to that and she sighed again before rolling over to go to sleep.

The next morning Natalie was woken up by the screeching of owls in the back garden. She leapt out of bed and pushed open the window. Three owls sat on the bench near the dining room door. Thrusting her feet into her bunny rabbit slippers she hurried down the stairs to investigate them. She was the first one up she knew because none of the lights were on, and for some reason she thought of Christmas as she nearly flew down the stairs her blonde hair and dressing gown behind her. It was a lot like Christmas, in that she was the first one up and she was hurrying to find out what Santa had brought, but in this case Santa was three owls. She fumbled on the shelf, being still too short to reach it safely and found the key. As soon as the door was unlocked and open the three owls flew sedately and graciously in to perch on the backs of chairs. Natalie was quite bright so she had wrapped napkins around the backs of the chairs to stop the owls claws from damaging them, she also knew that her mother would freak if the chairs were damaged. She looked at the three owls. One was a grand, tall snowy owl, her feathers Christmassy and shiny, the next was slightly smaller, tawny and slender, and the third was peering at her oddly through its heart shaped face and she recognised it from her books as a barn owl. It was this Barn Owl that proffered her the letter in its beak. She saw written there in a childish scrawl her name and a rough approximation of her address, ending in 'Muggleland'. There was a seal on the back and she rubbed her fingers over the warm wax before slipping a knife under it to open the letter without damaging the delicateness of it.

She sat down in a chair opposite the three owls. The barn owl didn't seem to want to leave without the others and the other two didn't seem interested in giving her their letters. She assumed that they were addressed to her parents. Dragging her eyes away from the owls she began to read the letter. The writing inside was much tidier than that on the outside.

"_Dear Natalie,_

_We thought we should write to introduce ourselves. We are your cousins, Lily Potter, Hugo, Louis and Roxanne Weasley. We are all cousins ourselves and come from a very large family, that will soon be welcoming you into its fold, despite your peculiar background. Hugo says I can't say that because you're my Dad's background, and that his mother was also from a similar background, although her parents were dentists and not scary or mean like yours._

_We hope that we will like you, because we are all going to be going to school together. I (Lily) already have two brothers at Hogwarts and they are very silly, James is going to be a fifth year, and Albus will be a third year. Hugo has an older sister there, she is the same age as my brother Albus and her name is Rose. Roxanne's brother Fred is starting Year 6 this year, and Louis' elder sister Dominique is in her final year, whilst his eldest sister Victoire graduated last year. We also have two other cousins but they are Percy's children and we don't see them a lot. They are also very young, Molly is six and Lucy is going to be three next week. We think we will be having a jelly party for her. If you are not busy and your mummy and daddy say it is ok maybe you could come._

_See you soon_

_Lily, Hugo, Louis and Roxy."_

Each name had been signed separately and Natalie read it back to herself several times as the news sank in; suddenly she was part of a large loving family. It was a novel concept to her but one that excited her beyond all reason.

There was a click in the kitchen that told her that her mother was up and she went in to find her standing in front of the boiling kettle waiting to make the coffee for breakfast.

"I have a letter, from my cousins, and there are two more in the Dining Room." She informed her mother solemnly. Lara looked at her puzzledly and then walked into the dining room. To their credit the Owls hardly ruffled a feather when she screamed at the sight of them.

"What? How did they get in here?" Lara exclaimed, shutting the door behind her so that they couldn't go anywhere else in the house.

"Well, I let them in of course." Natalie said looking at her mother as if she was crazy.

"Why did you do that? Your father is going to be furious." Lara said, wringing her hands, the memories of last nights argument fresh in her memory.

"They have letters for us, what was I supposed to do?" Natalie asked.

"Oh, I know, I'm sorry. It's just that your father and I…"

"Had another fight."

"No, not a fight, just a discussion, about what we should do about the situation we find ourselves in."

"What situation?" Natalie asked, genuinely and innocently confused.

"Well, the Hogwarts situation honey."

"But, I don't understand, you always say 'situation' when there's a difficulty or a problem. But there isn't a difficulty here, I'm going to Hogwarts. I have to go to Hogwarts." She said trying to understand what her mother was implying.

"I know, but…"

"No mum, no buts. Buts are bad, buts mean you don't want this for me. I'm going to Hogwarts." Natalie exclaimed, taking a step back so her mum couldn't put her arm around her. "I'm going to Hogwarts." She repeated stubbornly. Lara looked anxiously at the ceiling as a telltale thump alerted her to Dudley's getting out of bed.

"Honey, I know. I just have to talk to your father first. Now, lets get the Owls out of here before your father arrives downstairs shall we?" The two Owls held out their claws and Lara tentatively took the letters from them as Natalie opened the door for them. The Owls flew out with a slight hoot and a bow, and Natalie slid the door shut just as her father appeared in the doorway.

"Good morning Daddy!" she said brightly as she walked out, deftly taking the letters from her mother as she went passed her.

"Good morning Natalie, you're up early. What's going on?" he asked looking at his wife.

"Nothing, nothings happening, why would you think that something was happening?"

"Because you're all flushed, and Natalie is up before half seven."

"Oh, well, I just went for a jog in the garden that's all, and I guess Natalie must've heard me. Do you want some coffee?" she followed Natalie out of the dining room and into the kitchen, leaving Dudley wondering why his wife had gone for a run in the garden barefoot.

Natalie waited until her father had gone to work before she returned the two letters to her mother. Handing them to her silently she went back to her bedroom to listen to music and re-read the letter she had been sent. Lara settled down on the sofa, the sound of her daughters current preferred music blocked out by the closed door. She had developed a taste for the classics, the Spice Girls to be precise, and Lara found it disturbing to hear her eleven year old daughter singing 'If you wannabe my lover…" at the top of her voice. She hooked a finger under the thick red seal and peeled it off carefully before unfolding the parchment it held shut.

The first she read was from Harry, a brief note to apologise for his not being forthcoming the night before, he should have mentioned that he had a family engagement that evening, and his hopes that the reunion would be continued soon. He and his wife would be taking the children to Diagon Alley two weeks from Friday if they would care to join them. The second she read was more interesting. It was written in a swooping style, one she had long since associated with her Grandmother, the one who had refused to use ball point pens her whole life and insisted on using an old fountain pen that you had to dip in the ink.

_Dear Mr and Mrs Dursley,_

_You do not know me, although I believe I once met Dudley briefly in a train station, many years ago. I am Mrs Molly Weasley, Harry's mother-in-law, and as your daughter has been excepted by Hogwarts I thought it would perhaps be fitting for you to join my family at my home for a meal on Sunday. Sunday lunches have become somewhat a tradition in my family, when we all gather together to give thanks for the passing of the bad times and take stock of the week together. I would be honoured if you would attend next weeks dinner at The Burrow. Most of my seven children will be present, although Charlie is still in Transylvania. If you could let me know by returning a note with my Owl, he will wait until you have told him either way, and then I can organise to get you on the Floo Network. It really is the fastest and simplest way for a __Mugg__ non-wizarding family to travel to our house._

_Sincerely, Molly and Arthur Weasley._

She tapped her finger on her chin for a second before walking to her desk and taking out some of her best writing paper.

_Dear Mrs Weasley,_

_Thank you for your kind offer, we would be happy to attend. Please let me know if there is anything I can bring. _

_Sincerely, Lara Dursley._

_P.S. what exactly is the 'Floo Network'?_

She took the note to the back door and the Tawny Owl flew to her side and took the letter with a hoot before all three flew off together. She shook her head slowly whilst closing the door.

"How very odd." She murmured before glancing at the Grandfather clock in the corner. "Natalie, get dressed honey, it's nearly time to go see Grandma Petunia." Her daughters moans of protest were so loud she could hear them over the fourth Spice Girls track on the album. "And turn that off, I don't want you ending up like them."


	5. Shards of Glass

**Author's Note: I own none of the rights for this I'm just borrowing it. Hope you enjoy! Please review and tell me if you do or don't!**

Natalie sat in the back of the car, tapping her foot nervously on an empty water bottle. Lara glanced in the rear view mirror.

"Calm down, Natalie. Please honey." She said recognising the signs of a possible oncoming panic attack. Her daughter glared at her. "Ok, not the right thing to say. But you do need to calm down. She's your grandmother." Natalie laughed harshly and Lara sighed, hating her husbands parents once more for the constant pressure to perform that they had pushed on her daughter.

After twenty minutes of more foot tapping in the car, they arrived at the sheltered houses Petunia now lived in. though not old enough to go into a residential home, after Vernon's sudden death she had begun a swift decline into mental instability. It had been decided that sheltered housing was the best choice, a decision encouraged by Lara as the alternative was that she came to live with them. Lara got up and held the door open for Natalie. She pushed Natalie ahead of her and rand the doorbell over her shoulder. They heard Petunia before they saw her.

"If that's those kids again I'm not defenceless, I've got a cricket bat and I'll call the police, not that they'll do much good." The door flew open. "See? I'm not afraid of you." There was a slight pause as she registered the absence of the screaming terrors she'd expected and the presence of her granddaughter and daughter-in-law. "Oh, it's you. Well you'd best come in I suppose." She beckoned them in and returned to the kitchen, the strength and anger gone from her voice.

"I thought you said she was better?" Petunia complained to Lara, "She's pale and shaky again." Lara glanced at her daughter, who had advanced from agitated to deathly white and shaky. "No breeding that's what it is. To think my Dudders could produce a child so reliant on sugar." Petunia muttered as she walked to the refrigerator. She poured something into a glass. "Here girl, this will fix your shakes." She returned and thrust a glass of bright yellow lemonade under Natalie's nose. "And I expect you want a coffee?" She asked Lara scathingly. Lara had never been good enough for dear iccle Duddykins in Petunia's eyes, and Petunia always made sure that Lara knew it. She chose not to see that Dudley rarely came to visit and Lara was the better of the two.

"No Petunia, I can drink a glass of lemonade as well." Petunia snorted and Lara sighed. "I brought you some cakes Petunia, scones. I baked them last night." Petunia glanced at her.

"Good good, you're baking for Dudders. Now don't stand there all day, girl, into the lounge with you." Natalie obediently followed her grandmother into the lounge at the front of the house. "So, you've come to visit, that means you have something to tell me. Go ahead, what is it this time?"

"Maybe you should…"

"What? Sit down? I'm not that frail yet." Petunia snapped, in voice wavering at the end, "Out with it."

"Alright." Lara said, sensing that this wasn't going to be an easy conversation and resigning herself to that fact. "We had a visitor last night. A cousin of Dudley's."

"But Dudley doesn't have any cousins." Petunia responded. "Except. Harry. Harry came to visit you?" as she said it her voice finally cracked and her face clouded with emotion. She sank into her armchair and Lara leaned forward anxiously on her chair.

"Petunia." She asked concerned.

"I'm fine." Petunia waved off Lara's concerned hand on her knee. "I don't need mollycoddling." She paused and looked into Lara's eyes. "How, how was he?"

"He looked well, he mentioned that he was a wife, and children too."

"Good, that's good. Why did he visit?" The fog of emotion seemed to suddenly lift and she looked at Lara sharply.

"Because Dudley asked him to, he thought, we both thought that it was time for old grudges to be put to rest."

"No, no, you're lying to me. Dudley has no grudges, it was that boy who had all the grudges, he thought we never did enough for him, but we did everything. Everything we could in the situation my sister put me in, put us in. There must be something else, something more. You're lying to me, hiding something. There must be something." She looked at Natalie, who was paler than before.

"Petunia, Natalie received a letter from Hogwarts yesterday." Petunia's eyes flicked from Natalie to Lara and back to Natalie before she lurched to her feet pointing at Natalie.

"A cuckoo! A cuckoo in the nest! Bad blood. Bad blood. I always said bad blood would out!" Natalie stared at her before suddenly jerking, her frame went rigid and all the glass in the room smashed, showering the three in the shattered sparkling remnants of crystal dolphins and the windows, as well as flowers and water as vases imploded, lemonade split over their hands as the glasses they held shattered. Petunia screamed and moved towards her granddaughter, pointing still, alternating between muttering and screaming "Bad blood bad blood." Each utterance led to a new crash upstairs as Natalie's uncontrolled magic tore through the house, destroying all the glass it came into contact with. Lara thought belatedly that this was a bad idea as she knelt down in front of her daughter.

"Natalie, calm down. Stop this. You have to pull yourself together and calm down." She gripped her daughter's arms and pulled her to the floor in time as the mirror over the mantle piece exploded. She screamed as she felt the glass land on her back and looked around for Petunia. She couldn't see her but was distracted as she heard a series of pops in the garden, followed by a voice.

"Hawes, Cavendish, stabilise the subject. Lupin Weasley, start on Memory Charms and get this crowd out of here. Tate, Tiggs, restoration." The voice was familiar and there was a crunching of glass as someone climbed in through the broken window. The smashing stopped suddenly, but Natalie remained rigid and Lara realised it had only stopped because she had run out of glass to smash. Two feet appeared in her line of vision. "Can you stand?" She nodded dumbly and cried out as the hand she put down to push herself up with found purchase on a shard of glass. A hand was offered to her and she took it, and found herself being heaved to her feet. "I'll get someone to look at that for you." The voice said and she used the other hand to push the hair out of her face. And looked up at him.

"Harry." She gasped. He grinned tightly.

"This is my job. Well, sort of. I saw the address and took charge of this one." He shifted slightly and led her to one side as two men in red cloaks came towards Natalie. "We should let them do their jobs." He picked his way to the door to the hall and led her into the kitchen. "Lets have a look at that cut shall we?" He reached out and took her hand in his, holding it under the tap before waving his wand over it. "_Episkey_" he murmured and she looked at her hand in shock as the cut healed in front of her eyes. He shrugged. "That's one of the perks. You wouldn't believe the amounts of times people healed my nose and glasses like that when I was a little older than Natalie." She took on a guarded look as he said her name. "Has anything like this happened before?"

"No, she's always gotten tense around Petunia and Vernon, but she's never… little things would break, things you could explain swiftly as falling off a shelf, or the string holding the picture up must have broken, never on this scale." Harry nodded. "Is she… will she be ok?"

"It's just her magic asserting itself. She'll be fine, and once we get her to Hogwarts she'll learn to control it."

"He used to make his hair grow back when I cut it." A voice in the doorway said. They turned to see that Petunia had followed them. "And clothes he didn't like would shrink so that I couldn't make him wear them. It was infuriating. I could never work out what was going on. Of course I knew, but I didn't want to see it. He'd be too much like Lily if I saw it. he already tortured me everyday with those eyes." Petunia seemed to have either forgotten or overcome her shock and stood staring at Harry in wonder. "It really is you." She stumbled as she came forward and Harry automatically went to her side to guide her to a chair. She reached a hand up. "I'm so very sorry Harry. I never said that, but I was. I am. I know we should have treated you better, but I was so scared."

"There was nothing to be scared about about me." Harry replied angrily.

"Not about you dear, about Vernon. I was scared he would leave me. I never thought he'd stay after you appeared on the doorstep and I explained about Lily. He didn't even know about Lily until then. She was my special secret. The photos she sent of you were in a box, along with all the photos of my childhood. Vernon never saw them. I was proud of Lily, and scared of her power, and that boy who sneered at me. Sneverus or whatever his name was. When you came I had to admit it all, and Vernon was so shocked that I had such a family. He said 'bad blood. It's bad blood that's all. We'll squash it out of him.' And then you got the letter. And he said 'it's all that bad blood.' And I replied, God help me, 'that bad blood will out.'" She stopped. "Is Natalie alright? I didn't mean to upset her." she looked at Lara with tears in her eyes. And Lara sighed.

"She's fine Petunia, she'll be fine. You need to rest, take your tablets. Have you been taking them Petunia?" Petunia's gray head shook. "No, I didn't think so." She got a mug out, all the glasses had been smashed, and gave it to Petunia once she'd filled with water, pressing a tablet into her hand. She beckoned Harry away from her. "She goes like this, all sad and upset, but when she hasn't taken her tablets… sometimes it's like she's channelling Vernon from beyond the grave. I should've left as soon as I heard her screaming at the boys that she'd hit them with a cricket bat if they didn't leave her alone." Harry patted her shoulder still watching Petunia who smiled sadly back at him.

"I'm sorry Harry. And you Lara. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to forget the tablets, and I didn't mean to upset Natalie. Is she going to be alright? You'll look after her won't you Harry?"

"Of course I will Aunt Petunia." He said, suddenly feeling sad that he'd never really gotten to know his Aunt.

"I have a box for you upstairs. When the men in red cloaks have gone I'll get it out. You'll like it." she smiled excitedly.

They were interrupted as Ron appeared in the doorway.

"We've done all we can for now. It's only her memory that we haven't changed." He nodded towards Petunia. "Do you want us to or not? The only thing is, the house is uninhabitable. There was glass in the brick work, Tate and Tiggs say it could be a week before they've got it stabilised." Harry looked at Lara and then at Petunia. Lara looked horrified at the prospect of Petunia having to stay with her, and Petunia looked worried as well.

"I don't want to be a burden Lara…" she said feebly.

"And you won't be." Harry said decisively. "Lara, if Hawes and Cavendish are done you can take Natalie home. She should be fine. Give her some sugar and something for her nerves and keep an eye on her. We'll see you on Sunday."

"What about Petunia?" Lara asked worriedly. Harry smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, and not the smile of a doomed psychopath on his way to his death sentence.

"Don't worry, we're going to look at the box she has for me, and then I'll look after her. Afterall, she is my family."


	6. Picture Box

**Authors Note: Sorry this took me so long to write. Thank you again for all the reviews. As usual I don't own any of the characters, I'm just taking them out for a joyride.**

Harry sent the other wizards back to the Ministry, asking Ron to make his excuses to the Minister for Magic.

"Just tell him it's a family Emergency, and let him think that Ginny will come after him if he pulls me away." He muttered to him. Ron laughed at the thought of Ginny going after Kingsley and chuckled merrily to himself until he disapparated with the rest of the team with a pop. Harry stared at the space where they had been for a second before turning back to Petunia.

"Right then, what do you need to pack?"

"Where are you going to take me?" Petunia asked, her voice a little waverly.

"I think to the Wizarding hospital. They might try something that the Mugg… that your doctors haven't tried." Petunia nodded.

"With magic?" she asked, a small tremor in her voice as she said it.

"Yes."

"They could make me better, stop me taking the pills, with magic?" the tremor had gone, and it had been replaced with wonder.

"Possibly. We won't know until we go will we?"

"Before we go. I want to give you… you really should have it." She trailed off and started to walk upstairs.

"Aunt Petunia?"

"The box Harry. I have to give you the box. I want to make you understand. To show you that, that I'm sorry." Her voice became distant and he started up the stairs after her. Looking at the walls around him he saw all the family portraits from his and Dudley's childhood. He was somewhere behind the camera in all of them, holding the coats and bags of Christmas shopping. One photographer had been so scandalised by this that she had tried to sneak the painfully thin Harry into the picture. Vernon had been furious, Harry remembered. For his complicity in the plot to ruin Duddykins' Christmas portrait Harry had been put on bread and water for a week, just long enough that he missed Christmas dinner. "Found it!" she exclaimed as she reappeared. In her arms was a wooden chest with inlaid mahogany. He remembered the Christmas Vernon had given it her. She'd smiled and said she loved it, but everyone knew it was a lie because it never reappeared. Now there it was, big and bulky between her frail arms and hands. "Harry dear, can you take this off me? It's a bit heavy I'm afraid." He nodded and finished climbing the stairs. After he took it out of her arms she led him back down and into the lounge. She gestured for him to place it on the coffee table and she handed him a key for the large iron padlock on the front. "Vernon would never have let me keep it if he knew. So I had to keep it secret, keep it locked. Go on, open it. It's yours now." He frowned, puzzled by what could be in there. He slid the key into the rusted lock and turned it, listening to the metal grate on metal. The lock sprang open and he unhooked the padlock and opened the lid. It was filled with papers, letters and pictures. The handwriting in them was familiar, he had a letter of his own in the same writing. It was from Lily. Bundles of letters from his mother to her sister were piled on top of a pile of three albums. "The letters are tied up in year order. Lily always wrote to me, from school, from her home with James. She'd send me pictures of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. Once she even sent me a bottle of butter beer. In the albums are all the photos she sent me, plus all of the photos that I took of you when you were growing up." She picked up an album and leafed through it wistfully. "She would have been so proud of you." Harry nodded, dumbstruck. He looked at the hand writing and felt his eyes mist over. He replaced the letters and closed the box. Here was neither the time nor the place. He didn't want to look over all of this in the place that was full of memories of his painful childhood.

"We should get going, Aunt Petunia." He said standing up. "Do you want to bring anything? Clothes, a photo, books? You shouldn't be gone too long but it might be best to take something." He suggested smiling down at her. She looked a little lost, "It's ok Petunia, you gave me the box, but I'll look at it later. Now we need to take you to the hospital to see if we can make you better." He took her hand. "Come on, I tell you what, we'll go to the hospital now and see what they say, then if you need to stay I can come back. Now, shall we lock up the house?" he spoke slowly and she nodded in reply.

"Whatever you think is best dear." She said placidly, patting his hand where it lay upon hers. He nodded and led her out into the garden, the box under one arm. She turned the key in the lock and glanced around. "Your friends are very good at cleaning up. I should have realised how good magic was when I had a chance to use it." she smiled at him, "now, shall we go on our trip dear."

"Yes Aunt Petunia." He replied, feeling an odd rush of emotion. He held onto her arm and turned where he stood.

They appeared suddenly in the entrance hall to St Mungo's and for a moment Petunia stood looking around at her surroundings.

"Well that was very clever dear." She said with a little awe in her voice, and for a moment Harry thought she would be fine, that she wouldn't be affected by travel sickness caused by the Apparition. And then her arm ripped from his grasp as she doubled over heaving over the floor. There was a flurry of sound behind them and a bed appeared next to him, and caring hands lifted Petunia onto it, and then she was whisked away. Harry stood there, watching as they left and then felt a tug on his trousers.

"Excuse me sir, I need to clean here." A house elf informed him from his knee. Harry nodded dumbly and then noticed a witch in a white pristine apron beckoning him over. He went to her.

"Mr Potter, such an honour. _Such_ an honour sir. I'm Madame Frieze, matron of the ward your Aunt has just been taken to. Would you like to come with me sir, and I'll talk to you while the nurses get her settled in." Harry looked slightly dumbstruck. "Oh, would you like some water? You don't look well at all. You did stand in the hall for an awfully long time. Mitsy was worried." She summoned a glass of water from the desk and handed it to him. "She said you looked like a statue, and that you were in her way. Come to my office Mr Potter, and I'll tell you about your Aunt." She took his arm gently and led him to the lift. The doors shut and she smiled at him, her blonde hair, edged by the white of later years, tucked up under the white and blue cap she wore, the blue almost exactly matching the colour of her eyes. "May I ask why you brought her in?"

"She's always suffered with depression, but I'm given to understand that in recent years that has turned into bitter moodswings, which are affected even more by the taking or not taking of these pills." He handed them to her and watched her carefully as her mouth twitched. "Can you tell something from them?" He asked, his brow creasing slightly.

"No, dear. Nothing to worry about." She replied in a singsong voice.

"Madame Frieze, forgive me, but I am an auror, which means as well as the ability to defend myself against the Dark Arts, I can tell when people are lying to me." He informed her, looking at her intently without seeming to. She flushed slightly and moved swiftly through the doors as they reopened outside her office.

"If you'll step this way Mr Potter." She said, loudly than she meant to in her more than flustered state. Inside she sat behind her desk and gestured for him to sit opposite her. she looked at him, then at the parchment that now had been placed on her desk in her absence.

"There is no easy way to say this Mr Potter." She paused to take a breath. "Your aunt has cancer. It's terminal." Harry took advantage of her taking a second breath.

"Can't you…?" He gestured with his hand to indicate something magical.

"I'm afraid not Mr Potter. It's too advanced, and the Muggle doctors have done her no favours with their constant bombardment of her system with toxic radiation. We can make her comfortable, but that's all. We can make her final days much more pleasant than they would be in a Muggle hospital."

"How long?"

"A month, maybe two." Harry nodded.

"I'll need to make arrangements. Do you have recommendations for home care nurses?"

"Yes, but…" Harry interrupted her, cutting her off.

"I'm taking her home with me. She wouldn't, she has prejudices, she wouldn't like it here. She wouldn't cope well with this environment, and neither would her son, and he needs to be able to see her. Can you keep her here while I discuss things with my wife, inform her of the situation." His arms tightened involuntarily around the wooden box in his lap.

"Well yes, but I really don't think…" This time she was interrupted by the pop as he disapparated in front of her. "Well, really. How rude!" she exclaimed.

Ginny looked around surprised as Harry walked into the kitchen,

"You're early." She murmured, licking some cake batter off her finger.

"I took a half day." He said absently as he slipped an arm around her waist. "You look nice." He kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you… what do you want?" She asked suddenly suspicious.

"Nothing." He said, feigning innocence, trying to find something to distract her with. "Dinner smells nice, what are we having?"

"Beef cobbler. Harry Potter, what do you want?" He sighed.

"I can't say anything nice without you thinking I want something."

"Well you usually do."

"That doesn't mean I want something now, that's just you jumping to conclusions."

"Ok, fine. Thank you for the compliments." She smiled and put the potatoes she had been preparing in the oven.

"We're going to have a house guest for a couple of months." He said while her back was turned. The oven door slammed shut, and he saw her shoulders tighten.

"Who?" she asked, her back still facing him and her tone slightly chilly.

"My aunt Petunia." She turned round and stared at him in disbelief.

"Why?"

"She's dying. She hasn't told Dudley yet, or his wife and family. I can't just leave her. She can't stay in her house or at St Mungo's." He decided to omit the fact that he'd offered to take care of her before he found out she was dying, no one needed to know that. "It's cancer, it's advanced and it's terminal. I've organised a nurse to come help us look after her, and well, she's family."

"But, what she did to you…" Ginny said, trying to keep her tone even.

"Is in the past." He put the box on the table. "she did this, she kept all the letters, all the photos my mother ever sent her. This box, it's her guilt and anger and love for her sister. She kept it for me. There has to be an end to all of this." Ginny nodded, realising that this was important to him.

"Ok, Victoire and I can prepare a room for her in the morning. Probably Teddy's room, he can sleep with the boys for a couple of months." She said, thinking out loud. She placed her hand on his on the box. "We have forty minutes before dinner's cooked. Can you show me what's in the box?" Harry smiled and kissed her before carefully opening the box.

Ginny lay on her own in her bed in the top of the house, thinking about her husband's aunt. She had been genuinely moved by the way the letters had been carefully preserved, still in their envelopes, with the seals tucked inside when they had been sent from Hogwarts. The photo albums were neatly ordered, glimpses of Harry caught unawares, some were cut out of originals, photos of the Dursley family where Harry was an unwanted guest. The box in no way made up for their treatment of Harry but it showed some kindness on Petunia's part. Having her in the house would be a trial though, it would mean more forced contact with Dudley, something Ginny dreaded. She glanced at the door to Harry's study, the light shone still letting her know that Harry would not be returning to bed any time soon. She rolled onto her side and, closing her eyes, tried to sleep.

Harry sat at his desk, the blue blanket that featured in early photos of himself in his hands. It was the blanket Hagrid had wrapped him in on the night of his parents death. He had seen it when he was looking through the box with Ginny but hadn't wanted to look at it with her. As he unfurled the blanket he found a bottle of perfume and realised with a sudden clarity that this was his mother's perfume as a long forgotten scent filled his nostrils and bringing forth an image of his mother bending over him, her long red hair dangling about his face, a smile on hers and her laugh. The clarity continued as he realised that Petunia must have brought the perfume to sprinkle on the blanket to help pacify him as a baby.


End file.
